The Story of a NYT Reporter Caught In a Leak Investigation Is CRAZY

The news last week that the Justice Department had secretly seized phone and email records from a journalist illustrated the extreme lengths to which the Trump administration will go to crack down on leaks. The news that the seizure was intertwined with a relationship the reporter had been having with someone on her beat illustrated the ethical perils of such a choice. But another, equally troubling development in the story came on Tuesday night courtesy of the Washington Post. The newspaper reported that a Customs and Border Protection agent independently confronted the same reporter—Ali Watkins, a New York Times journalist who previously worked at Politico and BuzzFeed—about her confidential sources a year ago, several months before the FBI had approached her about the leak investigation that would eventually include the seizure of her records and culminate in the arrest of a Senate Intelligence Committee staffer. Watkins had a years-long romantic relationship with that now-indicted Senate aide, James Wolfe. And that relationship was of prime interest to Customs and Border Protection agent Jeffrey A. Rambo when he reportedly approached Watkins last June through a private email address and without sharing his name. The two later met at a Washington restaurant, the Post reported (emphasis mine): But after he arrived, Rambo said the administration was eager to investigate journalists and learn the identity of their confidential sources to stanch leaks of classified information. He questioned Watkins broadly about her reporting and how she developed information, according to the people familiar with the incident, who… [Read full story]